1. Chapter 2 Environmental Laws, Economics and Ethics

2. Overview of Chapter 2 Brief US Environmental History
US Environmental Legislation
Economics and the Environment
Environmental Ethics, Values and Worldviews

3. Environmental History of the US
17th and 18th Centuries-Frontier Attitude
Natural Resources (land, timber soil, water) seemed inexhaustible
Widespread Environmental Destruction
Establishment of Jamestown, VA
Dominated by Frontier Attitude
1600
1700
1800
1900

4. Environmental History of the US
19th century - US Naturalists voiced concerns about natural resources
Audobon - painted nature, which increased interest in environment
Thoreau - naturalist author on simplifying life
Marsh - wrote Man and Nature
John James Audobon ( )
Henry David Thoreau ( )
George Perkins Marsh ( )
1750
1800
1850
1900

5. Environmental History of US
General Revision Act
Gave President authority to establish forest reserves
Presidents Harrison, Cleveland, Roosevelt
Put 17.4 million hectares into reserve
President Roosevelt
Reserved additional 6.5 million hectares before signing bill preventing further forest reservation
1875 American Forestry Assoc. Formed
1890 Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks Established
1891 General Revision Act
1875
1900
1850

6. Environmental History of US
Utilitarian Conservationist
Value natural resources for their usefulness
Roosevelt
Biocentric Preservationist
Protect nature because all life deserves respect
John Muir (founded Sierra Club)
Fought for National Parks

7. Environmental History of US
Antiquities Act
Allows president to set aside sites of scientific or historical importance (monuments)
American Dust Bowl (1930s droughts)
Basis for Soil Conservation Service
Created by Franklin Roosevelt
1906 Antiquities Act
1916 National Park Service Created
1935 Creation of Soil Conservation Service
1900
1925
1950

8. Environmental History of US
20th Century Naturalists
Leopold - Author (A Sand Country Almanac)
Stegner - Author (Wilderness Essay)
Carson - Author (Silent Spring)
Heightened awareness of DDT and pesticides
Aldo Leopold ( )
Wallace Stegner ( )
Rachel Carson ( )
1900
1925
1950
1975

10. US Environmental Legislation
Environmental Protection Agency
Est. 1970
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Cornerstone of Environmental Law
Requires Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for any proposed federal action
Ex: highway or dam construction
Revolutionized environmental protection in US

11. Environmental Impact Statement

12. US Environmental Legislation
Numerous laws passed since 1970
They address:
Clean water
Clean air
Energy conservation
Hazardous waste
Pesticides
Federal regulation of pollution

17. Effects of Environmental Legislation
Since 1970
Six air pollutants have dropped by 25%
Since 1990
wet sulfate levels decreased 20–35%
As of 2007
90% of US had healthy drinking water (up from 75% in 1993)
As of 2006
45% of municipal waste is burned as waste-to-energy or recovered for recycling
Human exposure to hazardous waste sites identified in 1969 is below 93%

18. Economics and the Environment
Economics - study of how people use limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants
Analytical tools include models

19. Precepts to study Economics
Economics is utilitarian
Goods and services have value that can be converted to currency
Rational Actor Model
Assumes all individuals spend limited resources to maximize individual utilities
Ideal economy
Resources are allocated efficiently

20. Optimum Amount of Pollution
Cost to society of having less pollution is offset by benefits to society of activity creating pollution
Must identify
Marginal Cost of Pollution - Cost of small additional amount of pollution
Marginal Cost of Abatement - Cost of reducing small amount of pollution

21. Economic Optimum Amount of Pollution

22. Private vs Social Cost of Pollution

23. Strategies for Pollution Control
Command and Control Solutions
Government agency requires limitations to emissions or pollutants
Discourages development of low-cost alternatives
Environmental Taxes/Tradable Permits
If taxes are set at correct level private marginal cost of pollution = social cost of pollution

24. Effect of Tax on Optimum Pollution

25. Critiques of Environmental Economics
Difficult to assess true costs of environmental pollution and abatement
Impacts of pollution on people and nature is uncertain
Ecosystem services have no known value
Utilitarian economics may not be appropriate
Dynamic changes and time are not considered

26. National Income Accounts
Estimates of National Economic Performance and used in Politics
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Net Domestic Product (NDP)
Environment may be overexploited to yield a higher GDP in developing countries
EPI (Environmental Performance Index)
Assesses a country’s commitment to environmental and resource management

28. Environmental Justice
The right of every citizen regardless of age, race and gender, social class or other factor, to adequate protection from environmental hazards
Generally, members of low income and minority communities:
Face more environmental threats and have fewer environmental amenities
Have less voice in planning

29. Environmental Justice
Challenge of environmental justice
To find equitable solutions that respect all groups of people
Local issue
National issue
International issue

30. Environmental Ethics
Field of ethics that considers the moral basis of environmental responsibility
Western Worldview
Human superiority and dominance over nature
Deep Ecology Worldview
All species have an equal worth to humans
Most people’s ethics fall somewhere in between